Screams

scream

 (skrēm)

v. screamed, scream·ing, screams

v.intr.

1. To utter a long loud piercing cry, as from pain or fear.

2. To make a loud piercing sound: Jet planes screamed through the air.

3. To speak or write in an excited or fearful manner.

4. To have or produce a startling effect: The outlandish costume screamed with clashing colors.

v.tr.

To utter or say in a screaming voice or in an excited or fearful manner: The fans screamed their displeasure.

n.

1. A long, loud, piercing cry or sound.

2. Informal One that is hilariously or ridiculously funny: The new play was a scream.

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[Middle English screamen, possibly of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse scræma.]

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scream′ing·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Screams

 

See Also: NOISE

1. Bellowed like a locomotive —Marge Piercy
2. Bellowing like a wounded whale —William Diehl
3. Bellow, like an animal in pain —Jean Rhys
4. A broken shriek like a viola gone sour —T. Coraghessan Boyle
5. Cried out hoarsely like a bird warning the forest that a predator is on the loose —Derek Lambert
6. Cries … shrill, like a pig having his throat cut —W. Somerset Maugham
7. Gave a short roar like a lion keeping in voice —Kingsley Amis
8. Gave a shriek like an engine —Joyce Cary
9. Gave a shrill scream like a wrung hen —Hugh Walpole
10. He bellered like a bull calf —William A. Owens
11. A high-pitched wail like a cat on fire —Peter Benchley
12. His scream sliced the night like a hatchet —William Diehl
13. Howled … like a savage beast being goaded to death with knives and spears —Emily Brontë
14. Howling (through the streets) like an outcast dog —Erich Maria Remarque
15. Howl like dogs —Dante Alighieri
16. Howl like stabled wolves, or tigers at their prey —John Milton
17. A loud yell which rang through the lonely fields like the howl of an evil spirit —Charles Dickens
18. Screamed like a door creaking —Hugh Walpole
19. (Laughed and) screamed like herring gulls —Joan Aiken
20. Screamed like a horse in a fire —Gerald Kersh
21. Screamed … like an eight-legged wildcat having a fit —Harold Adams
22. Screamed like gulls on stormy water —Saul Bellow
23. Screaming at the top of her lungs like a railroad whistle —Paige Mitchell
24. Screaming filled the air like an icy mist —Bertold Brecht
25. Screaming like a hawk making a long dive at a rabbit —W. P. Kinsella
26. Screaming … like a saint sent to hell by mistake —Rosellen Brown
27. Scream like a peacock in heat —Tennessee Williams
28. Scream like a village of raped virgins —Clive Cussler

    In Cussler’s novel, Cyclops, the simile refers to protests in Washington about a space shuttle in Russian hands.

29. Scream like sandstorms in the desert, like the death of the universe —T. Coraghessan Boyle
30. Scream … like the death rattle of a slaughtered animal —Ignazio Silone
31. A scream of rage … like a blast from hell —Fred Mustard Stewart
32. The scream rose like an aria —Larry McMurtry
33. Screams as if ice water is rippling down her back —Ira Wood
34. Screeched like a cage of mynas —Tony Ardizzone
35. Screeched like a dying pullet —Frank Ross
36. Screeched like a nighttime cat —Cynthia Ozick
37. (The women) screeching like bony parrots —H. E. Bates
38. Shout as demonstrative as a lizard —George Foy
39. Shrieked like an old screen door —Carolyn Kizer
40. Shrieking … like she was at a fireman’s picnic —John Dos Passos
41. Shriek like a knife in the heart —T. Coraghessan Boyle
42. A shriek like a needle-point —Elizabeth Bowen
43. Shriek like infuriated switch engines —Irvin S. Cobb
44. Shriek … louder than the loud ocean —Lord Byron
45. Stormed and screamed like some shrill, wet hurricane about the house —Anita Desai
46. Talked and shouted for hours on end like a preacher —Ignazio Silone
47. Yelled … as if I were being roasted alive —Natascha Wodin
48. Yelling and growling like savage but cowardly dogs —Lawrence Durrell
49. Yelping (at captain of waiters) like a terrier who had cornered some small defenseless animal —Ross Macdonald
50. Yowl like a tortured cat —Madison Smartt Bell

Similes Dictionary, 1st Edition. © 1988 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.